The Industrial Revolution (c. 1760–1840), which began in Britain, transformed economies from agrarian to industrial. Key inventions, including the spinning jenny (1764), James Watt's improved steam engine (1769), the power loom (1785), and the cotton gin (1794), mechanized production and revolutionized industry and transportation. Factories concentrated production in cities, triggering massive urbanization, the rise of a new working class, and the growth of mass production on a previously unimaginable scale.
Industrialization came at significant social cost. The revolution created a new urban working class, widened the gap between rich and poor, and led to harsh working conditions, including widespread child labor. These problems in turn spurred reform movements, the rise of trade unions, and eventually the establishment of labor laws aimed at protecting workers. Meanwhile, industrial powers sought raw materials and markets, fueling a new wave of imperialism that reshaped the global balance of power and created new tensions between industrialized nations and colonized peoples.
The most dramatic example of this scramble was the Scramble for Africa (1881–1914), during which European powers rapidly colonized the African continent. The Berlin Conference (1884–1885), attended by fourteen European nations, established rules for this colonization and divided the continent among themselves without African representation, drawing arbitrary borders that ignored existing ethnic and cultural boundaries and caused lasting instability. Beyond Europe, the drive to modernize took different forms: the Meiji Restoration of 1868 was a political revolution in Japan that restored imperial rule and rapidly modernized the country. Adopting Western technology, industry, and military practices, Japan transformed itself within decades into a major world power by the early 20th century.